Sounds unlikely doesn’t it? Surely your agent is doing everything they can to secure tenants for your property? What many landlords may not realise is that letting agents charge tenants a fee to process their application which is fine when the cost is in proportion to the time taken to carry out the checks. However, many agents have now increased the fees way beyond acceptable levels, as much as £200 per applicant in some cases, this leads many tenants to completely avoid certain agents – potentially costing you tenants and increasing void periods. Lettings specialists Easthams & Co are regularly coming into contact with tenants who have been shocked by the fees charged by certain agents and who now refuse to view properties marketed by them for that reason. While Easthams & Co still charge a fee they realise it must be kept to a minimum to ensure it doesn’t affect their ability to attract tenants.

Director Ed Eastham explained: “I do believe agents should be able to charge a fee as lot of time and energy is spent on the referencing process if carried out thoroughly, we also find it prevents people putting in applications on several properties at once and then pulling out last minute which used to cause us problems. However, the size of the fee charged is now the issue with certain agencies clearly using it as a way to generate additional income.”

“I see it every day on property portals; houses and flats that should be let within days sat doing nothing as the agents fees are putting off potential tenants. It really is essential for landlords to find out what agents are charging tenants prior to marketing their properties through them.”

Due to a combination of affordable application fees, high quality stock and their market leading customer service, Easthams & Co are now letting more properties than any other agent in the Fulwood, Broughton, Barton, Cottam, Ashton and Penwortham areas.